PORTOVENERE, CELEBRATED FOR ITS PORTORO MARBLE
Seven miles by highroad from Spezia, the chief naval harbor of Italy, this picturesque village isbuilt
on
the
site
of
the
ancient
Portus
Veneris
It is separated from the island of Palmaria by a strait only i6o yards wide. Between two rocksbeneath
the
Church
ofSan
Pietro
is"Byron's
Grotto," where the great poet is supposed to have written much of his "Corsair,"